In-Depth Analysis Report on CATL's Overseas Expansion Strategy

Based on the latest collected information, I have prepared a systematic analysis report on the overseas expansion strategy of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL, SZ300750).

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Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL) was founded in 2011 by the founding team of ATL through a second entrepreneurial venture, and is a globally leading new energy innovation technology company. The company was listed on the ChiNext Board of the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2018, and successfully completed its secondary listing on the Main Board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2025, marking its entry into a new phase of global development [1].

As the world’s leading power and energy storage battery manufacturer, CATL has ranked first in global power battery installed capacity for 8 consecutive years (2017-2024), with a market share of 37.9%; it has also topped the global energy storage battery shipment rankings for 4 consecutive years (2021-2024), holding a 36.5% market share [2]. The company is building a business footprint covering major global markets through a “Headquarters + R&D + Manufacturing” trinity global operation framework.

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CATL’s European layout began with the establishment of a wholly-owned subsidiary in Germany in 2014. Construction of the Arnstadt plant in Thuringia, Germany started in 2019, and it officially commenced production in 2022. With an investment of approximately €1.8 billion and an initial planned capacity of 14GWh, this plant is CATL’s first overseas battery production base and serves as its strategic bridgehead in the European market [3].

• The plant has obtained dual certifications from Volkswagen Group’s module testing laboratory and cell testing laboratory, making CATL the world’s first battery manufacturer to receive Volkswagen’s module certification and the first in Europe to obtain Volkswagen’s cell certification [4]
• Production capacity is currently in the ramp-up phase, with a target to achieve break-even within the year
• It covers both power battery and energy storage production lines, mainly supplying BMW and other European automakers

The Hungarian plant is CATL’s most important capacity layout in Europe. Located in Debrecen, it has a planned total investment of no more than €7.34 billion and a planned total capacity of 100GWh [5].

• Civil construction for the first-phase plant has been completed, Industry 4.0 equipment has been installed, and cell production is scheduled to start in early 2026
• Battery module assembly work has been underway for over a year, with more than 120,000 modules produced cumulatively, powering over 30,000 electric vehicles in Europe
• The first-phase capacity of 40GWh has been 100% pre-booked by customers
• The plant’s design prioritizes environmental compliance, meeting all requirements of European and Hungarian regulations, and the IPCC permit has achieved significant environmental improvements [6]

Matt Shen, Managing Director of the Hungarian plant, stated: “Our investment in Debrecen is a crucial step to strengthen CATL’s European business. We are taking a long-term perspective and bringing the most advanced and sustainable manufacturing technologies to Hungary.”

In December 2024, CATL signed a joint venture agreement with global automotive giant Stellantis Group to build an LFP battery plant in Zaragoza, Spain. This is CATL’s first joint venture plant in Europe [7].

• Investment Scale: €4.038 billion (approximately RMB 30.8 billion)
• Capacity Plan: 50GWh annual capacity in the first phase, with a total construction period of approximately 4 years
• Equity Structure: CATL and Stellantis each hold 50% equity, with CATL holding control and the right to appoint the board chairman and designate the chief executive officer
• Service Objects: Mainly serves Stellantis Group’s brands including Peugeot, Citroën, Jeep, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati
• Product Positioning: LFP battery cells and modules, providing electrification solutions for the medium-range B-segment and C-segment vehicle market

CATL Chairman Zeng Yuqun stated: “Leveraging CATL’s advanced battery technology and combining with Stellantis Group’s decades of localized business operation experience in the region, this joint venture project will become a major success case in the industry.”

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Southeast Asia is an important strategic region for CATL’s overseas expansion, and the Indonesia project is its largest-scale comprehensive project.

• On July 2, 2025, the Indonesia nickel resource and battery industrial chain project, a collaboration between CATL, Indonesian state-owned mining company Antam, and battery company IBI, officially broke ground
• With a total investment of nearly US$6 billion, the planned annual battery output can support 200,000 to 300,000 electric vehicles
• The project covers a total planned land area of over 2,000 hectares, encompassing the entire industrial chain from upstream mining to downstream recycling [8]

• East Halmahera, North Maluku Province: Nickel mining and smelting
• Karawang, West Java Province: Battery material manufacturing and battery recycling
• The first-phase capacity of the Karawang battery plant is planned at 6.9GWh, with production scheduled to start in 2025

• After full production, it is expected to produce 142,000 tons of nickel and 30,000 tons of cathode materials annually
• It has the capacity to process approximately 20,000 tons of waste batteries
• Metal recovery rate exceeds 95%
• It will create 8,000 direct jobs and 35,000 indirect jobs
• Indonesian President Prabowo attended the groundbreaking ceremony and spoke highly of the project [9]

CATL has established a battery production base in a joint venture with Thailand’s Arun Plus, mainly serving the Thailand and ASEAN regional markets. This project is CATL’s initiative to enter another key market in ASEAN, and the joint venture model facilitates smooth access to the local market and policy support.

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CATL has adopted a differentiated strategy of “Technology Licensing + Asset-Light Expansion” in the North American market, achieving market penetration through cooperation with local automakers such as Ford Motor [10].

• Started supplying LFP battery packs for Ford’s Mustang Mach-E in 2022
• Began supplying LFP batteries for the all-electric F-150 Lightning pickup truck in 2024
• Adopted a technology licensing model to assist Ford in building battery plants, with CATL providing technical support

• Avoids the localized production subsidy barriers of the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
• Achieves asset-light returns through patent licensing
• Successfully entered the domestic market supply chain of traditional major U.S. automakers

Facing U.S. tariff policies on China (the tariff on electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries increased to 25%) and potential policy uncertainties, CATL has maintained strategic flexibility.

Chairman Zeng Yuqun publicly stated: “If U.S. President-elect Trump is willing to open the door for Chinese investment in the electric vehicle supply chain, CATL will consider building a plant in the United States.” This indicates that the company holds an open yet prudent attitude towards the North American market and will adjust its entry strategy based on the policy environment.

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CATL’s layout in the South American market has taken the energy storage business as a breakthrough, achieving significant progress [11].

• Assisted in the implementation of Brazil’s first utility-scale energy storage project, the Registro Energy Storage Project, in 2022
• After three years of stable operation, this station has become a benchmark for the South American energy storage industry
• Achieved a major milestone in 2025 through the expansion of the first power station

At the 2025 Smarter E South America exhibition, CATL launched the TENER Stack energy storage system, the world’s first stackable ultra-large-scale energy storage system with a capacity of up to 9 MWh:

• Features zero performance degradation over five years
• High temperature resistance, adaptable to South America’s diverse climates
• Land utilization rate is 45% higher than that of traditional 20-foot energy storage systems
• Energy density is expected to be 50% higher

In addition to Brazil, CATL is actively expanding its layout in other South American markets:

• Established a new South American office in Chile in September 2025
• Formed localized teams in Argentina, Mexico, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic
• Relying on cutting-edge products such as the TENER series, it provides customized solutions for off-grid, commercial, and utility-scale energy projects

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The energy storage battery business has become CATL’s “second growth engine”:

• Global energy storage battery shipments reached 301GWh in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 62.7%
• CATL ranked first in global energy storage battery shipments for the fourth consecutive year with an installed capacity of over 93GWh
• As of the end of the first half of 2025, energy storage system products have been implemented in more than 2,000 projects worldwide, covering all climate zones [12]

• Participated in the construction of Europe’s largest grid-side standalone battery energy storage station, the Mendip Energy Storage Station in the UK

• The 220MWh liquid-cooled energy storage project in Texas, U.S. was connected to the grid, marking the first large-scale global application of liquid-cooled energy storage solutions

• The energy storage business has entered major markets such as Europe, the U.S., and Brazil
• The gross profit margin of overseas energy storage business reaches 29.65%, significantly higher than the 25.18% of domestic business

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CATL’s overseas business has shown rapid growth:

Indicator	2024 Data	H1 2025 Data
Overseas Revenue Scale	Over RMB 50.5 Billion	RMB 61.208 Billion
Proportion of Total Revenue	Approximately 30%	34.22%
Year-on-Year Growth	-	21.14%

The 2025 Q1 financial report shows that the company’s overseas revenue proportion has exceeded 35%, with a gross profit margin of 29.65% for overseas operations, 4.47 percentage points higher than that of domestic business [13].

• The higher profitability of overseas markets is attributed to: localized production reducing transportation and logistics costs, stronger product pricing power, and technology premiums
• Overseas business has become an important profit engine for the company, effectively balancing the price competition pressure in the domestic market

As of Q3 2025:

• Monetary funds reached RMB 324.24 Billion
• Total assets increased to RMB 896.08 Billion, representing a 13.91% growth from the end of last year
• Operating cash flow reached RMB 80.66 Billion, a year-on-year increase of 19.6%
• After its listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in May 2025, the company further expanded its international financing channels

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CATL’s overseas expansion presents the following characteristics:

1. Capacity Layout Deeply Bound to Customer Demand
   • The three major plants in Europe respectively serve core customer groups such as BMW, Volkswagen, and Stellantis
   • The capacities of the Hungarian and Spanish plants have been 100% pre-booked by customers

2. Equal Emphasis on Joint Venture and Wholly-Owned Models
   • The Spanish project adopts a joint venture model, which is conducive to obtaining local policy support and market resources
   • The German and Hungarian projects adopt a wholly-owned model to maintain control over core technologies

3. Combination of Technology Export and Capacity Expansion
   • The North American market adopts a technology licensing model to avoid policy barriers
   • The Indonesia project integrates upstream resources to achieve full industrial chain synergy

CATL has established 6 major R&D centers worldwide:

• Domestic: Ningde (Fujian), Liyang (Jiangsu), Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xiamen
• Overseas: German R&D Center

R&D scope covers material R&D, product R&D, engineering design, testing and analysis, intelligent manufacturing, and other fields. R&D expenditure reached RMB 4.814 Billion in Q3 2025, a year-on-year increase of 10.92% [14].

• Released the zero-carbon strategy in 2023: achieve carbon neutrality in core operations by 2025, and carbon neutrality in the value chain by 2035
• A total of 9 plants have been certified as zero-carbon factories by SGS
• The Yibin plant obtained the world’s first battery zero-carbon factory certification and was selected as a Lighthouse Factory by the World Economic Forum
• The Ningde plant was named a Lighthouse Factory by the World Economic Forum in 2021

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• EU Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)
  : Increases export costs, requiring compliance with carbon footprint disclosure requirements
• U.S. Inflation Reduction Act (IRA)
  : Barriers from localized production subsidies, and uncertainties in tariff policies
• EU New Battery Regulation
  : From July 2024, product carbon footprints must be declared and meet limit requirements
• Geopolitical Tensions
  : Uncertainties brought by the Russia-Ukraine conflict, China-U.S. relations, etc.

• European Local Battery Manufacturers
  : Although companies such as Northvolt are facing difficulties, Europe is still promoting battery autonomy
• South Korean Competitors
  : LG Energy Solution, Samsung SDI, SK On, etc. are continuously catching up
• Price Competition
  : The price war in the power battery industry continues, compressing profit margins

• Price fluctuations of key raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, and nickel
• Geographical and political risks in obtaining upstream resources
• The battery recycling system still needs to be improved

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Plant	Location	Capacity	Expected Production Start Time
Thuringia, Germany	Germany	14GWh	Already in production (ramping up)
Hungary Phase I	Hungary	40GWh	Early 2026
Spain Joint Venture	Spain	50GWh	2028
Karawang, Indonesia	Indonesia	6.9GWh	2025
Indonesia Comprehensive Project	Indonesia	40GWh (including energy storage)	2027

Under-construction capacity exceeds 150GWh, with nearly half coming from overseas projects.

• 2025
  : Launch of NP3.0 battery safety technology platform, and mass-market release of Shenxing Pro battery
• 2027
  : Small-scale production of all-solid-state batteries
• 2030
  : Solid-state batteries start contributing to revenue, with sodium-ion batteries accounting for 10% of total revenue

• 2025
  : Expected new node for EU carbon emission assessment, requiring electrification rate to reach 30%
• 2030
  : EU’s electrification rate target of 64%, reaching 100% by 2035
• 2030
  : Expected total revenue of RMB 1,000-1,100 Billion, with net profit of RMB 180-200 Billion

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CATL’s overseas expansion strategy presents prominent characteristics of “multi-regional layout, full industrial chain synergy, and equal emphasis on technology export and capacity expansion”. Through systematic layout in Europe, Southeast Asia, North America, and South America, the company has built a business footprint covering major global markets.

1. Technological Leadership: Sustained high-intensity R&D investment to build a technological moat
2. Economies of Scale: The world’s largest production capacity, with significant cost advantages
3. Customer Binding: Established in-depth cooperative relationships with global mainstream automakers
4. Financial Strength: Sufficient cash reserves to support global expansion
5. Industrial Chain Integration: Vertical integration capabilities from upstream resources to downstream applications

1. Continue to deepen localized production in the European market to consolidate first-mover advantages
2. Flexibly respond to the policy environment in the North American market and maintain strategic patience
3. Increase efforts in industrial chain integration in Southeast Asia to leverage resource endowment advantages
4. Accelerate overseas expansion of the energy storage business to foster the second growth engine
5. Strengthen ESG and zero-carbon strategies to meet the requirements of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism

Facing the complex international environment and increasingly fierce global competition, CATL is expected to continue to maintain its leading position in the global power and energy storage battery sectors through its technological advantages, economies of scale, and strategic flexibility.

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[1] Sina Finance - “2025 CATL Research Report: Global Leader in Lithium Battery Industry, Driven by Global Layout” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/stock/relnews/cn/2025-08-15/doc-infmaiqz4300825.shtml)

[2] EET China - “2025 CATL Research Report: Technological Iteration and Innovation, Driven by Global Layout” (https://www.eet-china.com/mp/a437265.html)

[3] 21st Century Business Herald - “Investing Over RMB 30 Billion in Another European Project, CATL Secures a Key Overseas Step” (https://m.21jingji.com/article/20241212/81a9ffe2920ad6c0a70ec915c752cc50.html)

[4] Eastmoney - “CATL: Improved Capacity Utilization, Robust Production and Stable Market Share” (https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202511111779419292_1.pdf)

[5] Sina Finance - “Hungary: CATL’s Super Factory to Start Production Next Year” (https://finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2025-12-08/doc-infzzyrr1955666.shtml)

[6] CATL Official Website - Company Profile (https://www.catl.com/about/profile/)

[7] Southern Metropolis Daily - “CATL Distributes RMB 5.4 Billion in Dividends! Invests €4 Billion in Overseas Joint Venture Plant” (https://m.mp.oeeee.com/a/BAAFRD0000202412101033480.html)

[8] EnergyTrend - “Led by CATL: The Overseas Expansion of China’s Seven Energy Storage Battery Giants” (https://www.energytrend.cn/research/20250520-142618.html)

[9] CATL Official Website - “CATL’s Cooperation Project with Indonesia Officially Breaks Ground” (https://www.catl.com/news/8584.html)

[10] Eastmoney - “CATL (300750): Partnering with Ford to Enter the North American Market” (https://pdf.dfcfw.com/pdf/H3_AP202207271576615092_1.pdf)

[11] Yahoo Finance - “CATL Launches TENER Stack at 2025 Smarter E South America” (https://hk.finance.yahoo.com/news/寧德時代在2025年南美智慧能源展上發布tener-stack-拓展南美市場布局-053800329.html)

[12] Energy Circle - “CATL Makes a Strong Start in 2025: Global Competitiveness Upgraded Again” (https://www.nengyuanjie.net/article/113435.html)

[13] Caifuhao - “In-Depth Forecast and Analysis of CATL’s Investment Value in the Next 5 Years” (https://caifuhao.eastmoney.com/news/20251210212317829583760)

[14] Xinhua News / OFweek - “How Will Power Batteries Expand Overseas in 2025?” (https://xinwen.bjd.com.cn…)